Anambra vigilante Onyeka Eze was sentenced to death for murdering phone repairer Anayo Ugbo in Ogbaru Local Government Area
A High Court in the Ogbaru Judicial Division of Anambra State has sentenced Onyeka Eze, a vigilante operative, to death by hanging for the murder of phone repairer Anayo Ugbo.
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The verdict was delivered on Thursday by Administrative Judge Justice Charles Okaa.
The prosecution, led by Assistant Chief State Counsel Chinyere Aganama-Onyeze from the Anambra State Ministry of Justice, presented evidence that Ugbo, from Ogboji Ezzagu in Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, was repairing a phone at Shoe Site Market, Okpoko, on May 5, 2022.
Eze summoned Ugbo to meet their “boss,” and despite Ugbo requesting to finish his work, he was forced to follow Eze to the vigilante office in a three-storey building.
Ugbo asked to return to his shop, but Eze refused and demanded payment for a prior dispute over a damaged chair and spilled pepper soup, which the victim denied.
Eze allegedly assaulted Ugbo and pushed him from the third floor, resulting in severe head injuries that led to Ugbo’s death two days later at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital.
During the trial, the prosecution presented four witnesses, including an eyewitness, a medical doctor, a police inspector, and the victim’s brother.
Eze maintained his innocence but failed to prove he was an authorised vigilante operative.
Justice Okaa ruled that the prosecution had proven the case beyond reasonable doubt.
“The prosecution proved the case of murder against the defendant beyond reasonable doubt,” he stated.
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Eze, from Enueiji in Ika North Local Government Area of Delta State, was 26 at the time of the incident and is now 30.
